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Bridgewater’s Flagship Fund Lost 4.9% in First Half, FT Says

The fund was hurt as global stock and bond markets rebounded on the hopes of looser monetary policy.

Bridgewater’s Flagship Fund Lost 4.9% in First Half, FT Says
People look at smart phones as a man reads a newspaper while sitting on a bench in Tokyo, Japan. (Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Bridgewater Associates’ flagship Pure Alpha fund lost 4.9% in the first half, one of its worst performances in two decades, the Financial Times reported.

The fund, which bets on macro-economic trends, was hurt as global stock and bond markets rebounded on the hopes of looser monetary policy, according to the report. The newspaper said much of the loss was in January, when Pure Alpha declined 4.5%, suggesting it went into the new year expecting the worst just as markets began to recover.

The FT cited a person close to Bridgewater saying the fund had pared some of its losses and is now down 1.45% this year through mid-July.

The FTSE All-World equity index was up 15% through the end of June, while the broadest global bond market gauge was up 6%. The average macro hedge fund gained 5.2% in the period, the report said, citing data provider HFR.

The decline came after a strong 2018 for Pure Alpha, when it gained 14.6%. Bridgewater, the firm founded by billionaire Ray Dalio, has about $160 billion in assets.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Maurus in New York at cmaurus@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Debarati Roy at droy5@bloomberg.net, Matthew G. Miller, James Ludden

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